It was starting to get late. Inés knew that it would be dark soon. she headed back to her Inn.

How would they attack? The question was foremost on her mind. Max had said that they were never seen at the scenes of the incidents. Invisibility spells, perhaps? Intermediaries? Possibly even long distance magic. Whatever it turned out to be, she was confident that she could handle the situation.

She went to her room and sat against the wall, facing the door. She leaned against her staff and waited.

“I could,” Max said. “but they’ll sense our own if we do.” He shook his head. “No, it’s better to let them see what she’s up to.”

Sylvie put a reassuring hand on Serena’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. She’ll be able to handle herself until we arrive.”

Serena watched the scrying image. She trusted in Inés’ strength, but it was still unsettling to know that malevolent eyes were also watching her.

*****

Inés tensed up. A sensation, like she was being watched. A feeling, like she wasn’t alone in her room. Her hair tingled and her gills spread in anticipation. She kept still, ready to make her move as soon as there was any sign of trouble.

She looked and listened, her instincts screaming at her that there was danger but finding no sign of it with her senses.

That’s when it came. Movement, out of the corner of her eye. She swung with her staff, feeling it connect to something solid very briefly.

She brought her staff up over her head, feeling something solid come down on it. Was the enemy invisible after all. From the right. She moved her staff, saw something black and shapeless collide with it only to coil back and vanish.

Shades. Summoned monsters without form. Deadly and fast. Faster than her. She briefly contemplated what things would be like if she had incredible speed instead of strength. From below. She jumped back, avoiding the dark tendril.

She wouldn’t be hurting them with her weapon, she knew. She needed magic.

The chant was complete in seconds. “Flash flood!” Instantly, the room filled with water. It poured out from beneath the door The vague outlines of the creatures were visible, their movements slowed by the flooded room. There were two of them.

She had to act quickly, even now the water was draining. Inés hurriedly chanted. “Crushing Wave!” The water rolled back and slammed into one of the creatures, slamming it into the wall. The wall cracked and broke open, tossing the beast and the waters from the flash flood spell into the next room. The young couple that had been sleeping there hurriedly ran out, shocked awake by the sudden deluge and the battered shade.

Inés moved to block the attacks of the second creature. Unencumbered by the waters, its speed had returned. Inés ‘ left arm got torn open when she acted a fraction of a second too slowly. A glancing but painful blow.

“Freezing Chains!” Max cried. The second creature, stunned but alive, found itself bound with thick chains of ice.

Serena ran over to Inés and began bandaging her arm. “Are you okay?” she asked. “It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“Don’t worry,” Inés said. “It wasn’t a solid hit.”

“Good, you can follow me,” Max said. “I’m going to cast a forced return spell. We’ll be able to follow this thing all the way back to its master and I have the feeling it’s going to be another battle.”

Inés and Sylvie looked at one another and nodded.

“We’re ready,” Sylvie said.

“Let’s show those scam artists what for!” Inés added.

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About ktulu007

I don’t really like talking about myself, but for the curious I’m Deutsch. I’m the second oldest of three children, four if you count my adopted sister. We largely grew up without a father. Writing has been a major passion for me since I was small. I like to write online because it offers me some freedom to experiment with different genres and provides me with more of an audience than I would normally have access to. One of my bigger influences has always been my youngest sister. She’s very socially aware, an excellent judge of quality when it comes to writing and very supportive of my efforts. Whenever I write I ask myself “would she find major problematic elements in this that I need to change?” and I try to be socially responsible enough and good enough to be as good of a writer as she thinks I am.